SOUTH KOREA
N Korea flies more trash
North Korea has floated hundreds more trash-filled balloons southward, the military said yesterday, the latest salvo in the two countries’ tit-for-tat campaigns of provocation and propaganda. North Korea has launched more than 900 trash balloons over the past three days, including about 190 late on Friday, about 100 of which have already landed, mainly in Seoul and northern Gyeonggi Province, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The bags attached to the balloons contained “mostly paper and plastic waste,” the military said, adding that they posed no safety risk to the public. North Korea has sent nearly 5,000 trash-filled balloons south since May, saying they are retaliation for propaganda balloons launched north by South Korean activists.
COLUMBIA
Court calls for hippo hunt
The Administrative Court of Cundinamarca on Friday called for the hunting of hippos, introduced to the country in the 1980s by drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. The court set a three-month deadline for the Ministry of Environment to issue “a regulation that contemplates measures for the eradication of the species,” which is affecting the area’s “ecological balance.” In their homeland in Africa, the animals are responsible for more human deaths than almost any other animal, but in Colombia, the hippopotami have become loved members of the local community and a tourist attraction. They have also been increasingly posing problems for the local community near Escobar’s old ranch in Antioquia Department — one that experts worry might soon turn deadly.
JAPAN
Hisahito turns 18
In a big milestone for the royal family, Prince Hisahito turned 18 on Friday, becoming the first male royal family member to reach adulthood in almost four decades. It is a significant development for a family that has ruled for more than a millennium, but faces the same existential problems as the rest of the nation — a fast-aging, shrinking population. Hisahito, who is set to become emperor one day, is the nephew of Japanese Emperor Naruhito. His father, Crown Prince Akishino, was the last male to reach adulthood in the family, in 1985. His status as the last heir apparent poses a major problem for a system that does not allow empresses. The government is debating how to keep succession stable without relying on women.
UNITED STATES
Animal lovers cause crash
Two animal lovers who stopped on a US freeway to rescue a stranded kitten caused a three-vehicle crash — and then lost the cat they were trying to help. The couple on Wednesday spotted the stray moggy as they drove east on the CA-91 near Los Angeles, California Highway Patrol Officer Javier Navarro said. After the female driver pulled over, the male passenger jumped out and grabbed the kitty, while traffic was blocked. “Another car comes up behind them and swerves to the left to avoid rear-ending them, clips the left rear of the last car” sending it careering towards the man holding the cat, Navarro said. “The driver of that car swerves right to avoid the pedestrian, and ends up going across all lanes and hitting a semi-truck.” Meanwhile, the man holding the cat hopped the center-divider to get out of the path of the car — dropping the animal in the process. Three vehicles were damaged in the incident, though no one was injured. As for the cat, “he doesn’t get hit, he doesn’t get hurt. He made it across on his own,” Navarro said.
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
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